Chapter 14 – It’s Good to be the King
“How long did it finally take? Neither of us has ever seen a dragon that angry. We could hear her complaining long after the two of you disappeared from sight. That’s assuming you managed to convince her to join the Collective.”
The Dragon Lord turned to look down at the tiny human walking beside him.
“Are you that certain she joined?”
Both husband and wife nodded.
Rinbok Intherer gave a mighty sigh.
“Three days. Three days of incessant venting.”
Steve whistled. “She didn’t have anything nice to say about any dragon?”
Rinbok grunted.
“She didn’t have anything nice to say about me. I cannot fault her. I deserved it.”
“I’m impressed,” Sarah admitted. She looked up at the green dragon towering over the two of them. “You’ve accepted responsibility. The Dragon Lord I thought I knew would never have done that.”
Rinbok elected to remain silent. The three of them resumed walking east. The Dragon Lord had reduced his normal gait to a fraction of what it was so that he wouldn’t outdistance the two humans walking alongside him. No other humans were present. There weren’t any other wyverians there, either.
“How many times did you end up apologizing?” Steve asked good-naturedly.
Rinbok didn’t bother looking down.
“Once.”
Steve grinned. “Only once, huh? How’d that work out for you?”
“Three days, human. She carried on for three days.”
Sarah cleared her throat. “At least it all worked out for the best, right?”
Rinbok paused in mid step. He dropped his neck down to the ground and eyed Sarah and then Steve.
“Before the Event starts I wanted to personally thank you and Sarah. For everything. Pryllan tells me your help was instrumental to lifting the curse. You have performed a great service to me and to all wyverians everywhere. You have my thanks.”
Steve stared, open-mouthed, at the enormous reptilian head that was less than a dozen feet in front of him. There was a time, Steve recalled, when the temperamental Dragon Lord wanted nothing more than to put an end to any human involvement in wyverian affairs. Rinbok had barely tolerated the presence of humans, had grudgingly allowed Steve to ride Pryllan, and he was certain, hated every minute of it.
However, now the Dragon Lord not only was taking the time to talk to the two of them, privately, but had actually thanked them for their involvement in this whole situation. Steve had to admit that he had been worried about how Rinbok was going to respond after everything had quieted down. Being personally thanked by the Dragon Lord was nowhere on the list of possible outcomes.
“Where is everyone?” Sarah asked after they had walked companionably in silence for several minutes. “You made it sound as though everyone is waiting for us.”
“They are waiting for you,” Rinbok confirmed as he turned his great head to look down at her.
Steve looked around the valley floor. Nothing but grassland could be seen straight ahead, but if they looked to the left they could see the calm blue waters of Lake Raehón. The forest’s northern border was slightly to their right. The more they walked the farther the trees receded from them.
“There’s no one out here but us,” Steve observed. He looked straight ahead at the leagues of open grassland comprising the majority of the dragons’ valley. “Do we really have to walk across that? Just tell us where to go and Sarah can teleport us there.”
Rinbok’s thick neck turned to look at the nearby tree line.
“Right about here will do.”
Steve and Sarah eyed each other. Steve slowly spun in place. He still couldn’t see anyone else besides the three of them.
“So what exactly are we supposed to be doing here? Is this where your event is being held?”
Rinbok shook his head no.
“What type of event is it?” Sarah asked.
“An event that hardly any humans have ever witnessed,” the Dragon Lord told them. He went stock still as though he was using the Collective.
“Are we early?”
“No,” Rinbok’s deep voice rumbled.
“Is everyone still waiting on us?”
“Aye.”
“Are they coming to us or are we going to them?” Sarah wanted to know.
“We are going to them,” Rinbok answered.
“You’re being awfully damn cryptic,” Steve grumped. “Out with it, dragon. What’s going on?”
Rinbok’s stoic countenance finally cracked. A smile appeared. Moving with the speed only a dragon could muster, Rinbok snatched husband and wife up off the ground and leapt into the air. In the blink of an eye they were airborne.
“I’m sure Pryllan informed you that I was ready to give up.”
Steve nodded. Thankfully Rinbok was flying at a normal velocity, for a dragon, and therefore communication was possible. Had he elected to accelerate to the dizzying speeds Steve knew the wyverians were capable of then the air would have been rushing by so fast that no one would have been able to hear anything but the howling wind.
“She did, yes.”
“I truly thought the time of the wyverians was over. I never dreamed that my own folly had caused this.”
Having ascended high enough to be flying through the light, misty clouds Rinbok dipped his left wing and turned until he was facing north.
“Words cannot express how grateful I am that Pryllan asked you two for help,” Rinbok continued.
“Can you believe this?” Steve whispered to Sarah. “I’ve never heard him talk like this before.”
Sarah put a finger to her lips and shushed her husband.
“Pryllan’s actions saved the life of every wyverian.”
“You have yourself a very dedicated dragon,” Sarah told the Dragon Lord. “Every dragon I’ve ever seen has been the same way. They are loyal to you. You’re obviously doing something right.”
“Hmmm.”
Steve met Sarah’s questioning glance and both craned their necks to look up at the Dragon Lord’s distant head.
The southeastern shore of Lake Raehón appeared. Rinbok appeared to be angling for the extreme northeastern edge of the valley, right where the prolific grasslands merged with the heavily concentrated Anakash forest. Both Steve and Sarah gasped with surprise.
There were dragons everywhere.
Reds, blues, greens, yellows, golds, blacks and whites. Every possible color combination they could think of was represented in the huge gathering of wyverians. At least several hundred long serpentine necks lifted skyward to watch the Dragon Lord approach.
Sarah sighed and gently inhaled. Steve sniffed the air and turned to his wife.
“Do you smell that?”
Sarah nodded. She leaned out over Rinbok’s claw and gazed at the ground below. From this altitude it looked to Sarah as though there was a purple line separating the edge of the forest from the grasslands of the valley. The purple line stretched south for at least a mile or two. Sarah sighed wistfully.
“It smells like sweet roses with a touch of vanilla. Honey, they’re lilacs! It’s one of my favorite flowers!”
Steve joined his wife by leaning out over Rinbok’s palm, too. As they neared the ground he could see that the flowers were growing big and tall and looked like large pine cones with the outermost layers being a light purple with the inner petals becoming progressively darker. Having bought Sarah many varieties of flowers, lilacs included, he knew Sarah’s expertise of flowers had yet again served her well.
“We could just teleport down there,” Sarah announced. “It’d save you the trouble to…”
“No,” Rinbok interrupted. “I am capable of delivering you two safely to the ground.”
Rinbok Intherer landed near the edge of the forest and, much to Sarah’s chagrin, away from the lilacs. A small group of humans were standing together uncertainly. They recognized Kri’Entu and Ny’Callé from R’Tal, along with their former charge, Mikal. Also present was a tall, thin figure dressed entirely in maroon robes, from the tip of his tall conical hat all the way down to the slippers on his feet. Tufts of steel gray hair were visible under the hat just above his ears.
“Shardwyn looks uncomfortable, doesn’t he?” Steve quipped with a smile.
Sarah nodded and then grabbed Steve’s arm. “Look over there! Do you see who’s standing next to him? And enjoying every minute of it by the looks of it? It’s Maelnar! I see Breslin, too.”
“I see a bunch more dwarves standing off to the side,” Steve told her as he hopped down from Rinbok’s open claw. “They really blend in with the trees, don’t they? They’re hard to see at first.”
Even though they were much shorter than the human King and Queen and farther away, Maelnar, Breslin, and the rest of the dwarves, made it to them first.
“Sir Steve! Lady Sarah! A pleasure as always!”
Steve bowed while Sarah curtsied. He grasped Maelnar’s forearm and gave a friendly shake. Breslin caught him by his arm and pulled him in for a hug.
“Sir Steve!” the boisterous dwarf exclaimed. “It’s good to see you, lad! And you, Lady Sarah! How have you been?”
Sarah smiled warmly at the dwarf.
“We’ve been really good, Breslin. And you?”
“I just welcomed the birth of my first daughter!” Breslin proudly proclaimed. “Eloise Malanar. She was born just last night!”
Sarah clapped her hands with delight. She darted forward to pull Breslin in for a hug.
“Congratulations, Breslin! I’m so happy for you!”
Steve slapped a hand on the dwarf’s back.
“Couldn’t have happened to a finer person, my friend!”
Introductions were made as each of the other dwarfs wanted to meet the famous humans responsible for eradicating the dreaded guur during the legendary battle that took place years ago. Steve knew, with absolute certainty that after the third dwarf had bowed and introduced themself that he’d never be able to remember any of their names.
Rinbok waited patiently for the humans and dwarves to become acquainted. After the Dragon Lord was certain the introductions were finished he cleared his throat. To any non-wyverians, it sounded like a low growl.
Steve nudged Sarah and leaned down to her ear.
“I don’t see Pryllan or Kahvel, do you?”
Sarah shook her head no.
“I wonder why. Maybe –”
“The last time we gathered like this,” Rinbok began, raising his voice to deliberately drown out Steve, “was over a thousand years ago. It was on that fateful day that I inadvertently set into motion that which nearly caused our downfall.”
It was so still and quiet that husband and wife held their breath.
“I was brash. I was stupid.”
The sounds of crickets chirping would have been deafening.
“I called several wyverians, several of our brothers, freaks.”
Several dozen muted conversations broke out all around them.
“Be silent,” Rinbok snapped.
The valley returned to utter silence.
“As I was saying, I insulted another dragon. Three other dragons. In an act of retaliation they exacted their revenge. I am ashamed to say that they targeted not only me but all of you as well. I accept full responsibility for my actions. I have already apologized and made amends with all three Zweigelans. Now, without further ado, let me introduce the newest members to our Collective. Syrreth and Ferreth are standing next to Kemxandra.”
Steve looked over at the familiar black female dragon and saw the green Zweigelan staring at Kemxandra’s luxurious black scales with envy.
“On Rhamalli’s right are Dirgath and Tirgath.”
Everyone looked over at the silver Zweigelan with the jagged black stripes.
“And finally, on my right you’ve no doubt noticed Yamira and Lamira.”
The female Zweigelan wordlessly bowed each of their heads.
“They are now our brothers. Treat them as such.”
Lamira turned to look at Rinbok and gave him a neutral stare. The Dragon Lord noticed and again cleared his throat.
“And sisters. You have also noticed the presence of our allies, the humans and the dwarves,” Rinbok continued. “Their help has been invaluable to the abolishment of the curse and will not be forgotten. We owe our allies our thanks.”
“Where’s Pryllan at?” Steve asked, once Rinbok had paused long enough for the multitude of dragons to stare awkwardly at the group of humans. “If there’s someone you should be thanking, it’s her.”
Rinbok smiled a big toothy grin.
“That’s not up for me to decide.”
That one statement silenced the entire mass of dragons.
“If not you, then who?” Steve demanded. “You’re the Dragon Lord, aren’t you? I’d say this falls under your jurisdiction, wouldn’t you think?”
“Not anymore, human.”
“Come again?”
“Effective immediately, I am abdicating my position as ruler of all wyverians.”
No one said a thing. Everyone, dragons, humans, and dwarves included, stared at Rinbok Intherer with expressions of utter disbelief etched on their faces.
“The purpose of this gathering,” Rinbok continued, as he looked around at the hundreds of dragons staring back at him, “was to announce the name of my successor. You know him well. Behold! The new Dragon Lord approaches!”
Rinbok pointed a talon towards the nearby forest. Over three hundred wyverian heads turned to see who Rinbok’s successor was. There was a collective gasp of astonishment. The dragons formed two lines, standing shoulder to shoulder. Walking slowly through the newly created rows was a gold dragon. As he passed, each dragon bowed low.
Holding her head high, Pryllan followed close behind. A small, dark green nose inserted itself between Steve and Sarah and nudged them both aside. Once there was enough room for her, Pravara settled down into the soft grass to watch the proceedings with her two favorite humans standing on either side of her.
Kahvel’s golden scales sparkled radiantly in the sunlight. Each scale had been polished to a mirror shine. Rinbok, noticing that Kahvel had paused to make eye contact with his two human friends, thumped his tail and indicated his successor should take his place at the front of the procession. Once Kahvel reached the front he turned and looked at Rinbok, who nodded once and stepped aside. Kahvel turned to face the mass of dragons who were jostling amongst themselves to get as close as they could to the new Dragon Lord.
“Brothers! Sisters! Let us honor my predecessor, Rinbok Intherer!”
Hundreds of dragons raised their heads and roared.
“Never has there been a wiser ruler. I can only hope to lead you half as well as he did.”
The ground shook as dozens of dragons thumped their tail.
“What’s the deal with the tails?” Steve asked Pravara as he watched the nearest dragon, a white one with streaks of red on its wings, smack its tail repeatedly on the ground.
“I have no idea,” Pravara confessed.
“It’s to signal agreement,” Kri’Entu whispered to him.
“How long are we supposed to hang around here?” Steve asked the king in a low tone.
“Until it’s over,” Kri’Entu told him with a smile. “It is extremely rare for a dragon to assume the mantle of Dragon Lord while the previous Dragon Lord still lives. I wish I knew why he was doing this.”
“Because of Valkira,” a low, deep voice said.
Everyone turned to see Rinbok resting comfortably in the grass a dozen feet behind them. The former Dragon Lord glanced around the assembled dragons to try and judge how well Kahvel was doing in his first address as the wyverian monarch. Kahvel, he decided, was doing an admirable job in enlightening the wyverian population about his plans, his thoughts, and some proposed changes to wyverian law.
“You made an excellent choice,” Kri’Entu told Rinbok. “He has captured his brethren’s attention and is holding it. He is making them think.”
Rinbok grunted and the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a smile.
“Be that good or bad?”
“Good, of course,” Maelnar assured him as he and Breslin joined them.
“Who, or what, is Valkira?” Ny’Callé asked.
“Valkira is my daughter,” Rinbok answered. He leveled a gaze at the human monarchs. “She hatched last year. I knew if it became known that the Dragon Lord sired an offspring then that dragonlet would be in mortal danger from the moment she cracked her shell. So her existence was kept hidden.”
Rinbok paused as apparently Kahvel had said something else which the dragons agreed on as they all roared in unison. Once he could be heard again, Rinbok continued.
“As I sat in my cave, bereft of fire, shunned from the Collective, and unable to fly, I started to think about Valkira. What type of life could she live as a dragon? Who would be there to care for her? Her mother abandoned the egg once it had been laid. I spent many days searching for her but no trace could be found. I can only presume she was killed.”
“So you’re a single father, trying to do what’s right,” Steve surmised. “Trust me, dude, what you’re doing is commendable.”
“Is Valkira safe now?” Sarah asked. “Can we do anything to help?”
Kri’Entu was nodding at this. He and the queen were more than ready to help if necessary.
Rinbok shook his massive head.
“Thank you, but no. At the moment she is with a trusted friend. Now that Kahvel is Dragon Lord, I am free to protect my daughter as only a father can.”
“What about Pravara?” Steve suddenly asked. “If it’s that dangerous for a Dragon Lord to have kids then does that mean she’s in danger?”
Rinbok looked down at the tiny dragonlet and chuckled.
“Ordinarily, I’d say yes, but in this case, Kahvel has more friends than I do. I do not think anyone would risk harming young Pravara here as long as you two are nearby.”
“She also has us,” Shardwyn reminded them. “Kahvel has but to ask.”
“That goes for us, too,” Maelnar added as he jumped up to stand next to the wizard. “Besides, we live closer. Our response time would be faster.”
“We have portals,” Shardwyn reminded everyone. “It takes time to climb all those stairs from Borahgg. I’m sorry, Master Maelnar, but you’re not an underling anymore.”
Maelnar crossed his arms over his chest. “Says one geriatric to the other. Your portals don’t lead to anywhere around here. We can still get here faster. If young Pravara here needs any help I’m sure the new Dragon Lord will be contacting us first.”
“I’m sure either of us would be more than happy to help,” Kri’Entu said as he frowned at the wizard. “This is not a competition, Shardwyn.”
“Tell that to him, your majesty.”
“I think that’s wonderful,” Sarah interjected, before wizard or dwarf could think of something else to argue over. “To think that one little dragon has so many protectors. That’s amazing!”
“To which I say you have my eternal thanks,” Kahvel’s voice rang out. “All of you.”
Steve, Sarah, Kri’Entu, Ny’Callé, Shardwyn and Maelnar all turned to look at Kahvel, who was staring right at the group of them. Apparently the new Dragon Lord had heard them arguing.
Kahvel thumped his tail once.
“Steve, Sarah, would you please approach?”
The dragons parted once more, forming a narrow aisle from the group of humans and dwarves to the front of the procession. Taking his wife’s hand in his, the two of them made their way towards the water’s edge and the shiny golden dragon waiting for them there.
“Pryllan asked for help. You two answered when you didn’t have to. You left your world behind to come to our aid when we needed it most. You protected my family. I will be forever in your debt.”
Kahvel bowed low. One by one the rest of the dragons copied him. After ten uncomfortable seconds of silence Kahvel reared his head once more and waited for his fellow dragons to follow suit.
“The question is how I should repay you for your kindness?”
“You don’t really need to –” Steve began, but was cut off by a nudge from Sarah.
“He already has something in mind,” she whispered to her husband. “Accept whatever he offers.”
“From this day forward the two of you hereby have my permission to ride any dragon you’d like.”
Wyverian jaws gaped open in surprise. The valley fell silent once more.
“With their permission of course,” Kahvel added. “You will never ride a dragon without their full consent. Agreed?”
Steve and Sarah both nodded. “We agree.”
The angry murmurings that had started instantly ceased. The dragons were mollified as each knew they’d never grant permission to be ridden. By anyone.
Kahvel moved off as he began to address the individuals who were waiting to be seen. The Kri’yans approached. Mikal patted Pravara on the head before he turned to his former bodyguards.
“Are you returning home now?” the prince asked.
Sarah nodded. “Yes. There isn’t anything else we can do here.”
“Well, there’s nothing more to be done here,” Steve added as he draped an arm over Sarah’s shoulders, “except to maybe find that damn wizard.”
The king sighed heavily at this. Both Steve and Sarah turned to the king.
“Is everything okay?” Steve hesitantly asked.
“About that wizard…” Kri’Entu began.
“What about him?” Sarah asked. “Did you find him?”
The king shook his head no.
“On the contrary, Shardwyn has completed the preliminary census of jhorun in the kingdom.”
“And? What did you learn?”
“That we have seriously underestimated him,” Kri’Entu softly told them as he glanced over at the wizard. “Shardwyn was unsuccessful. We had thought him to be in Avin.”
“So what happened?” Sarah wanted to know.
Kri’Entu spread out his hands in a ‘who knows?’ gesture.
“It was either a false reading or a false trail. Shardwyn insists his jhorun detector is foolproof and therefore sound, so I am forced to believe we were led astray.”
Steve raised a hand to ask a question but Sarah instantly pulled it back down.
“Put your hand down, dear. You’re not in school.”
Steve shrugged. “I have a question. You said the renegade wizard led you astray? To where? What did you find?”
The king shook his head.
“Nothing significant. We were led to a cottage in Avin. A young family was, and still is, living there. We detected only average jhorun. Why we were led there remains a mystery.”
“Is there a more methodical way of checking everyone’s jhorun?” Sarah asked. “He has to be here somewhere.”
Kri’Entu nodded. “I would agree. This person appears to take great pleasure in knowing he continues to successfully elude us. Shardwyn is working on additional methods to register jhorun so I am confident it will only be a matter of time before this wizard’s location, and identity, is known.”
Ny’Callé tapped the king’s shoulder. “We should be going, my love. We are expected in Capily by sundown.”
“What do you have going on in Capily?” Steve asked, curious.
“There are a growing number of unexplained phenomena happening in that village,” the king explained. “I’d like to believe it’s related to that renegade wizard but I think that would be too obvious of an answer.”
“I’m sure everything will turn out fine,” Sarah assured the king.
“I hope so.” The king held out his right arm and waited until the queen slipped hers through his. “There’s nothing quite as disturbing as hearing reports of missing villagers.”
“Missing villagers?” Steve repeated, frowning. “How long has that been going on?”
The king’s expression turned grim.
“That’s what I want to find out.”
THE END
Craving more adventures in Lentari? Read about Steve and Sarah’s first foray to Lentari in The Prophecy (Bakkian Chronicles #1)!